[reavsie]

I've only managed to finish one unit of 10 Boyz in the last 3 years so I took up the army painting challenge to help motivate me to complete some squads and hopefully a full army.

This Project Log will follow my attempts with Saim Hann Eldar for the challenge.

First unit was Banshees which was probably a bit ambitious.

Before pic:

By [URL=http://profile.imageshack.us/user/reavsie1]reavsie1 at 2012-02-26[/URL]

After pics to follow later.

 

[reavsie]

Took me the whole month to complete and went right down to the wire, posting shortly before midnight.

Sadly, no in-progress pics this time, but will post these for next unit now I have figured out camera settings.

Completed pics:

Was testing distances for camera so have 3 pics of each facing - Front-Left-Back-Right:

reavsie1 at 2012-04-01

reavsie1 at 2012-04-01

reavsie1 at 2012-04-01

reavsie1 at 2012-04-01

reavsie1 at 2012-04-01

reavsie1 at 2012-04-01

reavsie1 at 2012-04-01

reavsie1 at 2012-04-01

reavsie1 at 2012-04-01

reavsie1 at 2012-04-01

reavsie1 at 2012-04-01

reavsie1 at 2012-04-01

I hope to improve not only my painting, but also pic taking as this log progresses. (Background, yes I know!)

First time attempting highlights which was a bit hit and miss to be honest. Spent as much time making good mistakes afterwards.

There is an excellent level of detail on these models which my painting skills cannot yet do justice to. Overall, I am happy with the end result as they will look good on the tabletop, although suffer somewhat under closer scrutiny.

Reavsie

 

[reavsie]

Final touches for the Banshees:

reavsie1 at 2012-04-02

reavsie1 at 2012-04-02

reavsie1 at 2012-04-02

reavsie1 at 2012-04-02

reavsie1 at 2012-04-02

Coat of Purity Seal followed by adding tufts of grass to the base. Wanted to post the finished pictures before spraying with Purity Seal as I have heard horror stories from others using this.

First time adding static grass as well, pretty pleased with the result.

Next up will be a squad of Guardians for the April entry.

Reavsie

 

[Rameses]

That's some sexy looking Howling Banshee's.
The armor color has a nice smooth finish to it. I always get nervous doing a color that close to white.

+rep!

 

[reavsie]

I've started mixing my paints with windowlene (windex) rather than water, and am getting much smoother results that way.

Thanks for the rep!

Reavsie

 

[reavsie]

April entry will be a Guardian squad. These were primed some time ago with Army Painter red:

[URL="http://www.heresy-online.net/forums/

By reavsie1 at 2012-04-03[/URL]

This was a bit too close to the intended final colour so I needed to darken them up a bit. Unfortunately Baal Red isn't very good at shading so I used a heavy wash of Badab Black instead:

[URL="http://www.heresy-online.net/forums/

By reavsie1 at 2012-04-03[/URL]

Not sure that was a great idea!

Plan is to drybrush with Blood Red then attempt some highlights with a red/orange mix. Probably then wash with Baal Red to try and bring it together.

Will be a short month for me as I will be away for a week, so want to make this unit fairly quick if possible. As they are a basic troops unit, I'm not too concerned about a great level of detail this month.

Reavsie

 

[apidude]

Like the color scheme on the Banshees....

Looking forward to seeing more.

+rep

 

[VixusKragov]

Very cool looking...very excited to see the next batch!

+rep

 

[reavsie]

One coat of Blood Red dry brush later:

reavsie1 at 2012-04-03

Still too dark, might have to try another coat of dry brushed Blood Red. That's enough for tonight though.

Reavsie

 

[Rameses]

I think the darker look is pretty fitting actually. I'm not a huge fan of bright and gaudy colors. Why not highlight/finish one Guardian off as is and see how you like it.

Just my 2cp.

 

[reavsie]

@Rameses - good suggestion. I tried highlighting with just Blood Red on one of them and liked it, so I'll be going with that.

I've highlighted three now and just added a base coat of Astronomican Grey for the non-red bits:

reavsie1 at 2012-04-04

reavsie1 at 2012-04-04

reavsie1 at 2012-04-04

reavsie1 at 2012-04-04

Looks like I missed the large gem on the chest, so wil need to do that with the grey as well. Grey is pretty neutral so don't think it matters too much what will go on top, just prevents the red from bleeding through.

Oh yes, and that is Shadow Grey on the shuriken catapult, over a base of Astronomican Grey.

Reavsie

 

[Disciple_of_Ezekiel]

Your eldar are shaping up and turning out pretty good so far. I havent worked with the new "Fine cast" models yet, but I have been seeing alot of slightly warped parts and such. I have gotten used to it working with FW models and kits, I guess now I will have ot expect the same thing from GW. An easy fix is to dip the warped part into hot water and place it in a clamp or vice until it cool back down to room temp. Lastly, do you plan on maybe adding one more coat of the red as to help the colors underneath not bleed through?

Regards,
DoE

 

[reavsie]

@DoE - as you spotted, I have struggled a little with the warping on the finecast Banshees. I was using a fan heater and my fingers to straighten some parts, but it was a bit hit or miss. Thanks for the clamp tip, I'll try that next time - have Fire Dragons to tackle at some point.

Having had a week away and a pretty lazy week after, I'm not going to add any more coats of the red as time is starting to get tight now.

Latest photo's below. I've completed the highlights on the armour, and started to basecoat the helmets. I ended up using a 2:1 mix of Blood Red and Blazing Orange for the highlights as I didn't think the straight Blood Red showed up enough:

reavsie1 at 2012-04-23

reavsie1 at 2012-04-23

reavsie1 at 2012-04-23

reavsie1 at 2012-04-23

 

[reavsie]

Struggling to get these finished in time, so will only be tabletop quality for the challenge. I'll need to finish highlights and more detail later. Some making good too.

Have completed shuriken catapults, faceplates and first coat on the bases:

reavsie1 at 2012-04-28

reavsie1 at 2012-04-28

reavsie1 at 2012-04-28

reavsie1 at 2012-04-28

Have got half a day tomorrow and Monday evening to finish for the challenge. Eyes, helmets and probably another coat on the bases is about as much as I think I can get done. Not too sure how many coats will be needed for the helmets.

reavsie out.

 

[Minizke1]

I really like these, a lot! Guardians are looking fantastic.

 

[reavsie]

@Minizke1 - thanks!

Guardians are finished as far as the challenge is concerned. They are at least tabletop quality and I am out of time, so here we go:

reavsie1 at 2012-04-30

reavsie1 at 2012-04-30

reavsie1 at 2012-04-30

reavsie1 at 2012-04-30

I will be adding a little more to these before I consider them to be complete:

Some more details, such as belts and the things hanging off the Shuriken Catapults.
Highlights on the SC's.
Couple more layers on the bases.
Purity Seal
Static Grass.

 

[Pride365]

I like these and I will be excited to see more! I have an Eldar army I am working on but currently waiting for paints!

 

[Disciple_of_Ezekiel]

Good job Reavsie, I look forward to seeing them fully finished. The "table top" look, looks better than most other table tops I have seen. Well done!

 

[reavsie]

@Pride365 & @DoE - thanks for your comments!

@Pride365 - would like to see some pics of those once you have the paints.

Have just posted up my Army Challenge entry for May, which is a Farseer and Warlock squad. I did want to do just the Farseer as that would give me some extra time to finish off the Guardians, but then I realised it was probably the only chance to get the Warlocks painted this year.

Will attempt to complete the lot, but if time runs tight I may drop back to just the Farseer.

Before pics:

reavsie1 at 2012-05-02

reavsie1 at 2012-05-02

reavsie1 at 2012-05-02

reavsie1 at 2012-05-02

 

[reavsie]

Rather foolishly I decided to finish my Guardians first. Not the smartest move, but unfinished business really bugs me.

Just waiting for a dry day to give them a coat of Purity Seal, followed by some static grass. I have backup pictures already in case it all goes horribly wrong.

Anyway, on to this month's entry, Farseer and Warlocks. I've shaded with Badab Black and then a coat of dry brushed Blood Red. Also done the first coat on the bases, more to cover up the red than anything else:

reavsie1 at 2012-05-09

reavsie1 at 2012-05-09

reavsie1 at 2012-05-09

reavsie1 at 2012-05-09

I'm going to follow the same process as I did with the Guardians, which is basically base coat, shade, highlights and pick out some details.

I'm still a pretty basic painter, so am concentrating on getting comfortable with a method that works for me and allows me to get some completed units on the table.

Later on I may look at adding some new techniques and a higher level of detail, but this is enough for now.

Reavsie out!